Candidates have limited control in an interview. They cannot control the questions they will be asked nor can they control the manner by which employers will rank and weigh their responses. They cannot control interviewer bias.

Despite such noble intentions, candidates are frequently rejected or hired for other criteria. Over the past several months, we have had candidates eliminated by clients not for failing to check off the exhaustive list of requisite experience, skills or competencies but rather...

Many hiring managers read resumes in a cursory manner. They review the companies and roles that candidates have filled over their careers while making note of education levels, stability, the quality/consistency of overall career trajectory, and purported skills, knowledge and competencies.

Executive search processes and their outcomes fascinate me to no end. I enjoy trying to figure out how organizations determine their requirements and how well the outcomes line up to them. The recent decision to hire Ron Tavener as OPP Commissioner is a case in point.

In our last post we discussed the temptations facing unemployed executives to move with extreme haste in finding a new role. Conceptualizing job loss as akin to falling off a horse they associate ‘down time' with unproductive, time-consuming activity.

Every week, without exception, we meet executives who have jumped back on their horses in this very manner and embraced a ‘spray and pray' job search strategy. For some it may work like a charm but for the majority, dare I say the vast majority, it is the wrong approach.

The message for companies is pay attention, respect personal dignity, gives candidates a voice and some control over the process, and treat them as partners in an important relationship. Not only will companies have a higher chance of hiring them, on terms possibly more favorable, but as it turns out, keeping them.

Simply stated, self-awareness matters. The more one understands their personality, decision-making style, strengths and weaknesses, what motivates them and how these combine to impact those around them, the better equipped they will be to surround themselves with complementary or compatible staff. Not inconsequentially, the better equipped one will also be to develop their career. Self-awareness however does not just happen but rather is a purposeful, iterative effort of seeking feedback, reflecting and making sense of that feedback, adjusting, taking action and starting the loop all over again. Self-awareness is not easy as it demands intellectual honesty and a rigorous commitment to seek truth and act upon it. High performers tend to be more self-aware than most. They are also, not coincidentally, more likely to have sought out the counsel of a coach and/or mentor along the way.

For naysayers however, self-awareness is nothing more than psycho-babble. These people will argue that speed rules, time is money and executives should reflect, nourish their souls and self-actualize on their own time. Learning and developing is on-the-fly trial and error and experience is the only mentor that matters. Introspection is what one is forced to do when facing life-altering moments such as death, divorce or job loss. In other words, self-awareness takes care of itself with the occasional pit stop to ‘take stock’ before putting the pedal to the metal once again.

Since self-awareness is either hard work or work to be avoided, many hiring managers tiptoe gingerly around the whole subject. They under-rate or over-rate their portfolio of capabilities and traits or they simply skirt the issue altogether by describing themselves in motherhood terms such as ‘participative’ or ‘authentic. They then hire against the aspirational rather than actual qualities. Some sugar coat their leadership styles by using terms such as ‘passionate’ (likely means explosive), ‘focused’ (most likely obsessive) or ‘detail-oriented’ (almost always micro-managing) allowing them to ignore the real attributes as factors when hiring. Fortunately, since many candidates are equally lacking in self-awareness they cannot judge let alone articulate the environments in which they are most likely to thrive. So together the hiring manager and new hire enter the employment relationship blissfully blind. Often only serendipity will lead to a positive outcome.

About the Author

Robert Hebert is the founder and Managing Partner of StoneWood Group Inc., a leading executive search firm in Canada. Since 1981, he has helped firms across a wide range of sectors address their senior recruiting, assessment and leadership development requirements.